Huge gaps in U.S. regulations for tigers held in captivity could
make the big cats a target for illegal trade, wildlife trade monitoring
group TRAFFIC and World Wildlife Fund found in the first-ever
comprehensive report on captive tiger regulations across the United
States.

The report, Paper Tigers?: The Role of the U.S. Captive Tiger Population in the Trade in Tiger Parts,
found there are no reliable regulatory mechanisms to keep track of
captive tigers in the United States. While the report shows no evidence
that these tigers are currently a supply source for the international
black market, these weak U.S. regulations could leave them vulnerable
to illegal trade unless the issue is immediately addressed.

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â€œAs a
leader in promoting the conservation of tigers, the United States has a
responsibility to effectively manage its captive tiger population to
prevent any emergence of illegal trade,â€ said Leigh Henry, program
officer for TRAFFIC North America and co-author of the report. â€œAny
supply of tiger parts into the black market can stimulate trade and
consumer demand, which could pose a serious threat to already-dwindling
wild tiger populations.â€

According to the report, the U.S.
government has no way to determine how many tigers there are in
captivity within its borders, where they are, who owns them, or what
happens to their body parts when they die. Captive tigers include
animals bred in zoos, used for entertainment in carnivals or
promotional exhibits, housed at rescue facilities, and those privately
owned. In many states there are no controls on individuals keeping
tigers as pets. Current estimates indicate that there are more than
5,000 tigers in captivity in the United States, more than exist in the
wild. A registration scheme for all captive tigers and a means to
monitor disposal of dead tigers is urgently needed, according to the
report.

Tiger populations are fast declining worldwide due to
poaching for illegal trade and habitat and prey loss. One of the
leading threats to the speciesâ€™ survival is the global demand for their
bones, skins and other body parts for use in fashion and some
traditional forms of Asian medicine. There are around 4,000 tigers
remaining in the wild.

The international treaty that controls
trade in wildlife, called CITES, has agreed to a series of decisions
and resolutions for its 173 member governments to implement to help
protect tigers from illegal trade. Since 2000, a resolution agreed
upon by all CITES member countries, including the United States, has
urged governments to ensure that they had effective management and
controls in place to stop captive tiger parts from entering illegal
trade. The U.S. lacks a comprehensive management system for captive
tigers, which means that the U.S. has not implemented the CITES
resolution it agreed to, according to WWF and TRAFFIC.

CITES
member countries also decided last year, by consensus, that countries
should not breed tigers on a commercial scale for trade in their body
parts. The report shows that while no tigers are bred on a commercial
scale in the U.S. for trade in their bones or other parts, there is a
lack of regulation on the federal and state level, which could leave
the door open for illegal trade.

Mahendra Shrestha, director of
Save the Tiger Fund, which funded the report, said, â€œThe U.S. federal
and state governments have an opportunity to address this vulnerability
now to prevent potential abuse and demonstrate their strong
conservation leadership. We must take all steps necessary to protect
tigers to ensure their survival into the future.â€

WWF and
TRAFFIC recommend that, among other steps, the federal government
rescind exceptions to laws that exempt certain categories of captive
U.S. tigers from regulation, specifically under the Captive-Bred
Wildlife Registration system, and that all persons or facilities
holding USDA licenses for exhibition or breeding and dealing in tigers
report annually on the number of tigers held, births, mortality and
transfer or sale.